Access to Water | unicefosu

What did you do after you woke up this morning? Probably took a shower, used the restroom, washed your hands and brushed your teeth. Maybe you even made a cup of tea or coffee, so you could feel fully awake and ready to start the day. Running water is essential to our daily lives, and yet it is something that we take for granted. As of January 2017, about 2 million children in Syria had been without running water for three weeks. Although water rationing programs have been started in order to give some neighborhoods access to water for a couple hours, every few days, this is not nearly enough.

Since the start of this shortage, families have started to buy water of questionable quality from vendors. Water quality is extremely important, because contamination can lead to diarrhea, vomiting and other serious problems. A child named Bashir was hospitalized due to possible water contamination, and missed two days of school.

Additionally, children are normally the ones who are tasked with collecting water. Dania, 11, must walk 15 minutes from her house in order to collect drinking water. The jug used to collect water is so heavy that she cannot walk more than a few steps before taking a break. It also causes her intense arm and lower back pain; but she must continue to carry the jug, otherwise her family will not have water.

UNICEF has made steps to combat this massive water shortage. They have already restored 120 water wells, in and around Damascus, making them fully functional during this shortage. Additionally, UNICEF started sending water trucks to schools in Damascus, so more than 90,000 children will have access to clean and safe water. However, this is only a drop in the bucket. With the ongoing Civil War, we can expect for more water sources to be destroyed – which will affect millions of people. There needs to be more funding towards this crisis. In an effort promote more access to clean water, I pledge to give up buying tea for a month. Instead, I will donate the money I would normally spend on tea to UNICEF, so more programs can be implemented to create and restore safe drinking water sites. I know that this is not much, but I hope that you will join me in this cause. Water is essentially to life, and those of us who have access safe drinking water should not take it for granted. #PledgeForEVERYChild

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